The Deviless Went Down To Equestria
by Dylan Millwood
Summary: Expelled from Hell, Charlie arrives in a place where ideals like hers are seemingly the bases of the civilization. And even better, virtues are an actual power source. In short, an ideal world for finding a way for her to rehabilitates Sinners. Too bad she only has a year to get back home before the next Extermination...and is the pony body a bad thing? Read & Review.
1. Chapter 1

**AUTHOR NOTE: Got this idea after seeing the Pilot episode of "Hazbin Hotel" on youtube, Interesting piece of work.**

**Be warned, ****it OPENLY STATES in the description of the Pilot that Hazbin Hotel is a project aimed at older audiences ****(but then, and this is just my pointing this out, so are shows like Family Guy, American Dad, Futurama, The Simsons, Rick and Morty, ****ect.); ****Things like swearing, violence, drug use and Innuendo galore in Hazbin, so if you're bothered by that kind of stuff, just simply don't watch it. **

**Otherwise, suggest you give it a shot.**

* * *

Within Everfree Forest, the wild wooded area on the outskirts of Ponyville, a place considered "unnatural" and fearful for various reasons, from the terrifying wildlife, to the mysterious plants; something was stirring.

Deep in the cavern where the Tree of Harmony dwelt, the tree started glowing and sent it's roots to what it felt was coming and prevent it. Tapping into it's magic, though weakened from the Elements being stripped from it long ago, to rally what force it could to attempt to push the malevolence back.

In another, darker, location within the canopy of the woods, the earth itself seemed to moan in agony, as if something unwholesome was forcing its way up to the surface. An earthquake that could be felt for miles was felt as stone was shattered. A pillar of fire shot from the fissure, the flames going up to three thousand feet in the air and the smoke causing the sky to be turned pitch black. As all this happened, a large burning hole appeared in the middle of it, showing the silhouette of somewhere.

From there, a strange and very unfamiliar shape in Equestria was seen within the fire pillar until it suddenly started to forcibly contort it's shape as it was changing.

The hole crackled with poisonous green electricity before whatever the figure had become was expelled from it and whatever it was tumbled to a stop on the ground. As it did, the burning pillar stopped instantly and vanished, the ground closing up as it left and took the strange events with it.

Alone now, the figure laid still before groaning and shakily standing on all fours and gasping for breath.

"SHIT! THAT HURT!"

The female scream pierced the air, letting out vulgar words none native to the land had ever used.

After a moment more, she tried to stand erect, but couldn't balance herself and fell over. Groaning as she pushed herself up, attempting it again, only for the same result. After an hour's worth of failures, she thought it would be best to give on standing on her hind legs for now as she thought it was taking too long. At least standing on all fours seemed to work out for her. Odd...were her arms longer, or her legs shorter? Felt they matched length...why was that?

"What's wrong with me?" she groaned. She tried to put her hand to her head. But as the sensation on it connecting with her head hit her, her eyes went wide. That felt different than a hand!

Pulling it away and looking at her limb, she found that in place of a hand was a shod hoof covered in fur. She gasped at the sight of it. "It can't be...!" Eyes wide, she attempted to run, stumbled over and fell face first into a pond. Pulling her face out of it with a gasp and a fit of couching, she shook her head to dry herself, then looked at her reflection, gasping and her mouth hanging open. "What the...?!"

What was she?! Some kind of horse?!

Her fur was stark white like bone, she had a unique curly long blonde mane with peach pink highlights. Her lips were black and she had red cheeks, represent those of a clown or puppet, giving her a perpetual blush. Her eyes were black and her sclera was the coloration of light yellow. Her eyelids had a contrasting pink shadow to add more depth. They also seemed to be decorated with gray eye-shadow.

She had two red horns on her forehead, one above each eye, that were curved, smooth, sharp at the tip. She also had sharp teeth with two visible fangs, large bat wings at her sides, and oddly, rather than it being hair, she had a thick tail as as extension of her body that looked more like a whip that had a spaded tip, despite it being the same color as her mane.

Another odd thing was her attire: she was wearing a black bow tie and a white dress shirt underneath a red tuxedo coat. While she had indeed been dressed in it prior to her being cast from her home, since when did horses wear clothes in the same way people did? Wait...Now that she looked at herself, her body was too small to be a horse. A pony then? At the thought, she started to smile lightly. Ponies were cute, and she liked cute things. It helped calm her down a bit.

"...But where am I?" she asked, looking around. she seemed to be in a very large forest of some kind, as she couldn't even see what color the sky looked like from being under so many trees. Wherever this was, it wasn't Hell.

Feeling a look around would be best, she tried to walk, but, as she attempted to take her first step, unused to needing to balance herself on more than two legs before, wobbling and falling over in a heap.

"Oh, come on!" the bat-winged mare cried, then slowly and carefully pulled her legs to her and carefully placed the hooves flat on the ground before shakily pushing off the ground as if doing a push-up and finally standing.

"...This'll take some getting used to..." she muttered, referring to her newfound quadrupedalism. She hesitantly reached out with a single foreleg and took a small, experimental step, then sighed thankfully when she didn't fall over. "...ok...now the others..."

Like she had with the first leg, she hesitantly and slowly moved her left rear leg forward and breathed another sigh of relief, still no fall...She did the same thing with her other legs and soon she was now moving her legs a little faster until she was fully walking on all four hooves. She attempted to get a running start and that took about four trial and errors, but she finally managed to learn and remember how to run in her pony body if she needed to. She just had to make sure her limbs didn't collide with one another or her tail.

"Well...that's one problem out of the way, but still...I'm lost, I've been kicked out of Hell, I have no way to contact Mom or Vaggie, I'm a cute winged unicorn, and I'm lost...just what did that exorcism do to me...?"

Then she heard a vicious snarl and turned around, seeing a large pack of wolves made out of wood with venomous glowing green eyes as they surrounded her, "Ah...ummm... Nice puppies... Good puppies... Uh... You all look cute... and cuddly..." she said, backing up nervously.

The wolves snarled again, which made her freeze in place. "Okay...well...I see I'm in your territory... I think I'll just... see myself out..."

With that, the winged pony turned and ran away from the wolves, the pack giving chase as she rushed as fast as she could through the forest. As she ran from the wood wolves, she tried getting her wings to flap, since she knew her lead won't last for long as she heard the wolves behind her, and figured the air was the safest place. Her attempts were hindered by the tree branches as her wings kept snagging on them and slowing her down.

"Forget it!" She yelped, closing her wings and ran faster as the stench of the wolves' breath kept washing over her. If she weren't so used to the equally foul smell of sulfur, it would have made her gag and leave her vulnerable.

"Come on! Think, Charlie, think! There's got to be one place those wolves can't go!"

Ahead of her, she saw a large pool of water. Having only moments, Charlie quickly grabbed a reed in her teeth, broke it off, and dived into the water, using the reed as a breathing tube.

The wooden wolves soon arrived and started sniffing for Charlie, but they couldn't see her nor smell her scent.

Breathing through her mouth and finding it hard to know what exactly was going on, Charlie was thankful when the wolves snarled and slunk away in disappointment over having lost their prey.

After she was reasonably sure they were gone, her head surfaced and she tried to doggie-paddle her way to the shore. Not easy with the equestrian body she currently possessed, but thankfully, she felt some rocks under water and, with a bit of kicking against them, she managed to propel herself to dry land.

Charlie was exhausted from all the running and she felt a little thirsty, but seeing that she was a pony now...she had to drink like a pony, so she lowered her head to the water and started lapping the water until she heard something, and when she looked up, she barely evaded the literal jaws of death as she saw a gigantic crocodile seemingly made of stone burst from the water and roared at her.

It tried to bite her again, but this time, Charlie jumped away from it and tried to make another escape until the stone crocodile slammed it's tail on the ground making her lose her balance and then before Charlie knew it, she was then swatted by the beast's tail and crashed into a series of trees.

Groaning, Charlie shook her head. She was hurt, but not too much. Good thing demons were actually pretty sturdy with only Heaven-forged weaponry actually able to kill a demon, and demons were absurdly tough..still, that didn't mean she couldn't be hurt or feel pain, as one of her new wings didn't feel good now.

And that wasn't even counting the tremors she felt from the giant stone crocodile drawing nearer. Looking at the creature, Charlie went, if possible, even paler. Those rock she'd used and stepped all over to get out of the water had been the croc! No wonder it was so mad at her! And she doubted it would care if she apologized either...

The stone crocodile opened it's jaws and lunged at her before Charlie yelped and dove out of the way. The massive jaws, having failed at their intended target, clamped around the bottom of a tree.

With a growl, the crocodile glared at Charlie and with a crunch, tore the part of the base of the tree out before it angrily spat out the pieces of splintered wood that it had shattered in it's mouth and rounded on the pony before the tree it had bitten into fell over, smashing over the stone creature's head, knocking it out cold.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry..." Charlie said before rushing off in a random direction, Mentally praying (which was odd for her) not to see if there was anything worse that she would run into in this forest.

After hours of running, along with avoiding other hostile plants and animals, Charlie stopped, panting as she nearly collapsed, unsure of how much more in this forest wanting her dead she could take, she saw something a good ten kilometers from her position: smoke rising from the trees. Her eyes widened and hope infused her limbs with new strength.

Where there was smoke, there was fire, and where there was fire... there were bound to be people!

Happy to see signs of living creatures that she could reason with, the pony was about to rush her way over to where the smoke was coming from, until suddenly diamond roots suddenly sprang up from the ground underneath her and then wrapped around her whole body making it nearly impossible to move as her head was now the only thing she could move.

"I can't take this anymore!" Charlie yelled, "is it just the way this place is, or is it actually gunning for me?! What did I do?!" as the cry burst out of her, she did something that surprised even her: a tear rolled down her eye and muzzle before landing on the crystal roots.

As the droplet connected, she gasped, her eyes glowing white as she suddenly felt something enter her mind and look over her memories...

_"Well, as most of you know... I was born here in Hell, and growing up, I always tried to see the Good in everything around me. Hell is my home, and you are my people. We... We just went through another extermination. We lost so many souls, and it breaks my heart to see my people being slaughtered every year and NO ONE is even given a CHANCE! __I can't stand idly by while the place I live is subjective to such violence; Sooo...I've been thinking...isn't there a more... humane way to hinder overpopulation here in Hell? Perhaps we can create an alternative way to change souls through... Redemption...Well, I think "Yes!", so that's what this project aims to achieve. Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm opening up the first of it's kind, a hotel that rehabilitates Sinners!", Charlie said with her arms raised with a smile._

_Total silence was her response to her reveal of her passion project._

_"Ya know? Cause hotels are for... People passing through... Temporarily... I figure it would serve a purpose for a place to work towards redemption... yaaay...", Charlie softly said with a forced smile on her face._

_"Look, Every single one of you has something good deep down inside... I know you do... Maybe I'm not getting through to you...", Charlie smiled as she was about to break her promise to Vaggie..._

The crystal roots recoiled, as if shocked then one lightly touched her forehead, causing the feeling to come again as whatever was doing this dove back into Charlie's mind.

_..."The whole point of this is to give people a chance. To have faith that things will be better. How can I turn someone away? I can't. It goes against everything I'm trying to do; everything I believe in."..._

_..."__I believe that everyone deserves a chance to prove they can be better."..._

Pulling back again, the roots loosened at that before there was a final dive into her mind. After whatever this was had looked through all of her memory and personality, the crystallized roots retracted, setting her down gently.

"Huh?" Charlie asked, then shook her head. Then looked at the roots with a confused raised brow as they went underground and started to glow so she could see them under the soil like a path.

"Ohhh-kayyyy...thank you..." she said, finding it odd she was thanking part of a plant. Following the trail the root's glow provided, she soon reached her destination without any further unwelcome encounters with the things native to the forest.

Charlie blinked, seeing that the smoke she'd been trying to reach had been originating from a hut in that was a hollowed out tree. Looking through the window, she saw the building contained a large circular room with shelves all around the walls. There was an overhang where a bed was, for the hut's owner, obviously. The shelves were filled with potions and ingredients, and there were traditional masks hanging from the walls and a dream catcher on top of the door. There was also a cauldron in the middle of the room.

At the sight of the bed, Charlie sighed. What she wouldn't give to use it...

As she went up to the door, she bit her lower lip nervously, then shifted her weight to be mostly on her hind legs before raising a forelimb and knocking a few times before the door opened on it own.

Charlie blinked. The door was unlocked? That didn't seem very safe...then again, not having hands would make a doorknob and lock pretty impossible to deal with and impractical. So she guessed that was it.

"Uh...hello?" she called, entering the hut. Not getting an answer, she went in. She knew she shouldn't be entering someone else's home this way, but she needed somewhere to rest and get her barrings. Going up to the overhang, she promptly collapsed into the bed and fell asleep near instantly as her exhaustion took over.

After a while, Charlie wasn't sure just how long, she was awakened by the sensation of something hard, poking her in the sides a few times before she grumpily opened one eye and saw she was no longer alone in the hut. Standing over her was a female zebra who had cyan eyes, a light gray and dark persian bluish gray colored mane in the style of a moehawk; a light heliotropeish gray and dark bluish gray stripes while her hooves were colored indigoish black, and she also had jewelry in the forms of several gold bands on her neck, large golden hoop earrings, and on her front left hoof was another set of bands like the ones around her neck. And finally, she had a spiral marking surrounded by outward pointing triangles on her flank that looked almost like a sun.

What was more, the zebra was frowning at her. "What's this I spy? An uninvited guest giving my bed a lie?"

At that, the exorcism victim yelped and tumbled out of the bed, landing on one wing before she scrambled to her hooves, all while speaking fast. "Gah! I'm sorry, I...I am so...I just...oh crud! I can explain...Ummm..."

"Zecora," the zebra introduced curtly.

"Oh...well...ummm...My full name's Charlotte Magne; but please, just call me "Charlie" for short. Anyways, I am sorry...but needed a safe place to rest. And can I say I hate this forest? Everything in it seemed to want me dead to the point I found it a miracle the air here didn't try chopping off my head, too..."

Zecora blinked, then her frown vanished and she nodded in understanding. "For those new here, the forest can be quite dire; therefore, no apology do I require. Though, if I may inquire; why did you not simply fly higher?"

"Uh...well...panic, and I never had wings before..." Charlie admitted, looking at the bat-like appendages folded against her sides.

"Ah, so I see. Not yet use to flight, so you sought sanctuary in my tree."

Charlie nodded, "I am sorry for it, Zecora. Didn't mean to intrude."

"You need not fear I misunderstand, it's quite obvious you are not from this land." The zebra rhymed.

_'Understatement...'_ Charlie thought to herself, but didn't voice it, instead giving a long, tired huff. "Not many like me, huh?"

"I have seen other Alicorns, it's true; but never have I met a pony such as you."

Alicorn? Was that what she was now? "Well...like you said, not from around here." Charlie said.

Meanwhile, looking her guest over, Zecora was interested.

An Alicorn, but blank-flanked. A neigh-demonic appearance, yet a non-threatening demeanor. Seemed quite the contradicting presence, this pony. And that outright nasty juju that emerged in the Everfree Forest...There were too many questions. Ones she suspected had to do with Charlie. But knew she'd need proof before bringing up to anypony.

"So Charlie, with the Everfree Forest acting so mad; I feel showing you the way to Ponyville is the best choice to be had."

Charlie sighed gratefully at that, welcoming the prospect of a guide to show her the way out. While she had no clue about wherever this Ponyville place was or could be like, it had to be better than this killer forest. "Thank you, Zecora."

The zebra smiled and the the two made their way out of the hut.


	2. Chapter 2

Zecora navigated them through the forest expertly. Didn't run into any hazardous flora or fauna at all. And in seemingly no time at all, the pair stepped out of the treeline and had the forest at their backs.

Charlie sighed, glad to put the forest behind her. But once she looked up, Charlie froze, her eyes widening and her jaw hanging open. No way...there was just no...she couldn't believe it! Was that...?! She'd heard of this from her mom and Vaggie a long time ago, but...! But this...! Was that really...?! "...blue sky...?!" she whispered to herself, unable to really grasp or comprehend it.

Back in hell, the night sky was adorned with crimson stars dwarfed by a massive pentagram looming overhead; and even during the day, a dark reddish haze hung over the world.

But blue?! The sky really could be blue?! It was beautiful! It was amazing! Stunning! Breathtaking! It made her feel like wanting to weep! And the sunshine! It felt so good! So warm and, unlike hellfire, it was inviting! And the flowers! Oh...they were stunning! So many colors and scents! The bright, soft green grass under her hooves felt great, too!

Charlie never thought she'd ever be allowed to experience such wonders in her life! Compared to the bleak, constantly inhospitable environment she knew...was THIS what Heaven was supposed to be like?!

She loved it!

Turning to Zecora, she smiled. "Thank you, Zecora. So...you live in the forest to help anyone lost in there, huh?"

"Everfree forest is a wild and harsh place, that's true; therefore, aiding those lost there is something that I occasionally must do." the stripped horse replied.

"I can attest to that. Your help made all the difference going through there. It's practically impossible to believe it's the same place if you go there with your help than when you don't have you guiding who ends up in there." Charlie nodded.

"The compliment, it is kind of you to say; now come, Ponyville is this way." Zecora said, leading the way until they were able to see Ponyville.

Seeing the town, Charlie's eyes widened.

The architecture she was expecting was the only kind she knew of. Everything having a macabre flair. Buildings were twisted and bent, composed of harsh angles and edges; adorned with skulls, spikes, and steep towers; many of the windows look like eyes, gazing at the inhabitants with cruel and wicked glares.

This...wasn't that. At all!

Shaking off a fraction of her wonder, the word "quaint" came to mind as she looked around, awed by everything she saw. The infrastructure of Ponyville consisted of mostly medieval village-style architecture, and most homes were timber-framed cottages with distinct thatched roofs and overhanging upper floors.

"Charlie, I regret that here we must part." Zecoroa said, catching her attention, "there were events that need investigating within the forest, and that is something I must start."

Charlie gave a small, strained smile and a nod at that. Oh great...the exorcism that sent her away from home had also caused an uproar here...not to mention the only one she actually knew here was leaving her alone. "I'm sorry to hear that, my friend. But I hope we see one another again. Thanks for everything, Zecora."

The Zebra smiled at that and nodded; her heading back to the Everfree Forest, while Charlie went forward to Ponyville.

As she entered town, Charlie walked around. Feeling a want to see more burned within her, she wandered around. Charlie wished she was an Argus Panoptes**,** a hundred-eyed giant, as she continued to take in the sights, utterly awed by everything there beyond words, and wishing to commit everything she saw to memory. She also saw some ponies smile and wave at her which she returned eagerly as the walked around, though Charlie did get the occasional odd look. Those were easy to shrug off, given her current form of a bat-winged, double-horned pony. Doubted they'd seen anyone like her before.

As she continued to wander, dictated and directed by her desire to see more of this place, she ended up in a park. That was when she froze.

That sound...where was it coming from?! Delighted by the sound, she followed it and when she saw the source, to her utter joy, it was a tree full of birds! Birdsong! No wonder it was so beautiful!

What amazed her more was when she saw a pegasus—an actual pegasus!—pony with a coat that was colored pale, light yellow and had a pale, light rose mane and tail, whose flank had a mark showed three colored butterflies, seeming to act similar to an orchestra conductor to the birds.

Charlie went to get a closer look of the pegasus and the birds, until the birds all started sqwaking when they sensed her presence before flying away. After seeing all of the bluebirds fly from her, Charlie looked down and she sniffed and felt her eyes start to moisten.

Turning at the sound, the yellow pony's moderate cyan colored eyes widened slightly, then she went over to Charlie as she placed a hoof on her shoulder and Charlie saw that the other winged pony was looking at her with concern. "Oh my...are you all right?"

"...I...I didn't mean to scare them...just...their song was so lovely, I..."

Hearing Charlie say that caused the pegasus' eyes to widen again before she was put on the verge of tears herself, "Oh... You poor, poor thing..." she said sympathetically, wrapping her forelimbs around her in what was unmistakably a hug.

The bluebirds flew towards the pegasus, sqwaking, no doubt for her to get away from Charlie, until she gave the birds a look of some kind with tears still in her eyes, "You all should be ASHAMED of yourselves! All she wanted from you all was to hear your song! And this is how your treat her?! SHAME ON ALL OF YOU!"

Forcing herself under control, Charlie started to stand, "It... It's alright... I...I had a feeling this would happen... it's alright... really..." she sighed. Figures a denizen of Hell would alarm animals, much less if that one in particular was related to the Devil himself. That whole 'sixth sense' for things animals had always caused them to react to her demonic presence by running away. "...It's...it's just always been that way with me. Scare animals even if I don't want to...I don't like it, but..."

The yellow pony winced. All she wanted was to enjoy animals, but...she shuddered, that was horrible; utterly horrible! There just HAD to be a way to help her! "I am so sorry for the bird's rude behavior. They're never like this, but I'll have to give them a suitable punishment later. Oh! I'm sorry, I never got to introduce myself, I'm Fluttershy." she said, then noticed something that shocked her, "Oh my goodness! Your wing! Oh my, you need to get that looked at! Come with me, I'll take you to the doctor right away!" Fluttershy said as she then lead Charlie to the doctor to get her wing looked at and treated.

"Thank you, Fluttershy; you're very kind." Charlie smiled as they sat in the waiting area after Fluttershy had explained about Charlie's wing.

Fluttershy smiled bashfully, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof. After a few minutes, they were called.

As the nurse, who introduced herself as (of all things) Nurse Redheart, carefully fit a cast onto Charlie's wing, she felt her patient shudder as she tried not to move as the wing was wrapped. "What happened?"

"Ended up in Everfree...croc that was all stone and teeth..." Charlie sighed.

Nurse Redheart winced at that, "Cragadile attack..."

"At least it was the back end of it that got me...better that than the teeth..." Charlie huffed, shuddering as she recalled the creature.

Redheart nodded. Tail or teeth? No contest at all. As much as a broken bone from getting hit by the tail would hurt, it beat being chomped by the fangs! "I see the point. Well, either way, leave the cast on and don't mess with it. It will be on for at least between six to eight weeks, although it might take more time, so I recommend periodic visits for X-rays and seeing how it's healing. If you experience any uncomfortable changes, be sure to come back right away. Also, don't move your wing until the bones are mended. We'll let you know when it's ok to remove it."

Nodding, Charlie finished up with getting her wing set before exiting the doctors with Fluttershy. She bid the kind pony a farewell and promised to repay her some way before going off to find out more about this wondrous place she found herself in.

As Charlie continued to explore he heard a gasp before she looked and saw a unicorn mare with white, fur, moderate azure colored eyes with eyeshadow that were colored light cornflower bluish gray, the unicorn's mane and tail were moderate indigo, and on the shadowed side, a gradient of dark mulberry, and her tail was also looked was swirled like a coil and finally on her flank was another one of those tattoo things but this one was of three diamonds.

Charlie also noticed that this unicorn seemed to have dropped a bag filled with sowing equipment, however, to her surprise, the unicorn rushed to her and skid to a stop so Charlie was now staring at this new mare as she was looking her over.

From this unicorn's perspective, this HAD to be fixed! This Alicorn's mane was tangled in the worst way possible with split ends, sticks, and leaves sticking out all over the place. One of her wings was clearly injured as it was in a splint, and her outfit...her poor outfit...was torn in places and also had slash marks and holes. Not to mention her hooves and face were covered in dried mud and scratches, and she seemed unsteady and ready to drop at a moment's notice. All in all, the poor pony was an absolute mess.

"Quickly! We simply must get you freshened up and those filthy rags off you, now!" the unicorn said while her horn gained a light, icy blue, luminescent aura around it that matched both her eyes and her flank mark, which, to Charlie's shock, the unicorn seemed to use in order to levitate Charlie off the ground and ran off somewhere.

"Wha...?! Hey!" Charlie yelped, feeling like a balloon on a string as the glowing energy made it so she followed the unicorn as she continued to run before arriving at a building and skid to a stop. After the unicorn knocked on the door, a slot opened and a pair of eyes were seen looking through it. "Password?" the one on the other side said.

"Beauty within, beauty without." The unicorn said, "please, this is a red alert! We  
need to get busy!"

Hearing that, the pony behind the door's eyes widened and closed the slot and unlocked the door, "Please come in, Miss Rarity."

The obvious bouncer let the unicorn pass, but just before Charlie could follow, still enveloped in the blue aura from the pony's horn, the stallion slammed his hoof against the door frame and glared at her, clearly not letting her inside.

"It's alright, she's with me, in fact she's the one who's in need of the emergency, please let her in." The mare, Rarity, said while feeling a little embarrassed about forgetting to vouch for the one who's the reason they were here in the first place.

The stallion nodded and let Charlie inside before looking both ways, then slammed the door shut and re-locked it.

Once they were inside, Rarity finally set Charlie down, "This way, dear. We have so much to do..." Charlie followed behind Rarity as she seemed to know her way around this place, and from the looks of it, this place had a lot of fancy beauty care products from hair care to anti-aging creams...from the looks of it, if it was a beauty product that could be named, it was there.

Rarity then lead Charlie to where a main desk was and rang a bell. Following that, two ponies who could pass as twins then appeared, both wearing white bands on their heads and they were also wearing white collars only, the first one was a light cerulean colored pony with a pale rose colored mane and tail, and she had light cornflower bluish gray eyeshadow with moderate azure colored eyes and on her flank was a pink lotus mark.

The second pony was like the complete opposite of the first, as she was a pale rose color with a light cerulean colored mane and tail. She also had the same eye color as her counterpart and even the same coloring of eyeshadow as the first one. Even the flank mark were almost the same, except hers was a blue lotus instead of pink.

"Where is the one who needs the emergency, Miss Rarity?" The Cerulean mare asked as Rarity pointed at Charlie who was looking around the place until she felt the two small mares grab her with the pale rose one being careful with her cast-encased wing, then they took her to a large bin already filled with water as they then placed her into it after stripping her of her destroyed clothes, with a staff member taking them to be destroyed until Rarity stopped them by taking the clothes and holding onto them so she could at least get the right measurements first.

The two mares then began to start cleaning and caring for Charlie's hair, making sure not to make their guest feel uncomfortable and to avoid tangling her hair with her horns. While also doing her hooves in a manicure/pedicure fashion.

After thirty minutes of washing and cleaning Charlie's hair, the two spa ponies lifted her out of the water and wrapped a robe around her as they then guided her into the steam room to relieve the stress of her day away as she was laid belly-down on a massage table that had a face rest/head cradle while a beauty mud mask with cucumbers was put on her face. Then Charlie found herself subjected to a hoofed massage. Taking a deep breath, Charlie sighed, feeling she needed this right now.

"...Rarity, right? Thanks...this all feels great..." the alicorn sighed blissfully as the massage ended and the mask was removed from her face. As it was, the unicorn pony who brought her here looked her in surprise.

"My goodness, darling... How did you ever keep your makeup on during the treatments?" Rarity asked Charlie.

"What makeup?" Charlie asked.

"Why, your makeup powder and lipstick, darling." Rarity said, still in shock.

"Huh?" Charlie wondered, looking in a nearby mirror, only to blink in surprise as she realized what Rarity was talking about, her perpetual blush and black lips. "Oh...no, those are natural. Born with them."

"Really!? That's amazing." Rarity marveled.

Shrugging as best as a quadruped could, Charlie smiled, something Rarity noted the color on her cheeks and lips drew attention to.

"Oh my, darling, I must say your cheeks and lips match wonderfully with your charming personality. Makes it easy to draw attention to your smiles." Rarity said as she couldn't help smiling along with Charlie.

"Thank you, Rarity. And thank you for all this. Needed the relaxation." Charlie confessed, somewhat flattered seeing as she liked being able to smile about things. Then noticed Rarity had seemingly forgotten about the princess of Hell's former attire.

As Rarity was talking with Charlie, one of the spa ponies walked up to Rarity and whispered to her about if she was done with Charlie's outfit because it was making some of the other staff members uncomfortable seeing something like it still around. Rarity's eyes widened with a sudden look of shock as she forgot about Charlie's old suit.

"Oh my goodness! I completely...! Whatever happened to your outfit!?" Rarity asked, looking at Charlie's old attire.

"Well, you see..." Charlie began, only to be cut off as she was again covered and lifted by that blue aura again before being yanked along again, this time stopping at a boutique.

"NEVER MIND! WE UTTERLY MUST REPLACE THIS HORROR SHOW OF A SUIT, POST-HASTE! YOU CAN'T GO AROUND IN THAT!" The unicorn shouted some clothes up to her, "Try these on, NOW!"

Charlie, however, looked at the dresses with an uncomfortable, skeptic expression.

"What's wrong?" the unicorn asked.

Charlie sighed, understanding this unicorn only wanted to help and do something nice, so was a bit worried how to make this sound without coming off as rude, "Well...beauty is about finding the right fit, the most natural fit, right?"

"Oh, I quite agree, my dear. One cannot be beautiful if they feel they must become something they aren't. The whole thing becomes hollow and lifeless, otherwise. Personally, I find that to be the epitome of ugliness if that were to happen; you need to be comfortable with who you are yourself then accent and highlight it in your own way." The diamond-flanked unicorn said.

"Well...please understand I don't mean any offence to you, for the record, theses are lovely; but I'm more comfortable with a penchant for favoring tasteful suits over luxury gowns and formal wear. It's just me." The winged, double-horned pony said.

"Ah. I understand perfectly. Let me see what I have, then." The unicorn nodded, levitating the dresses back to their original places then went looking for something tasteful that matched Charlie's sense of style.

"Wait...what _you _have? You own this place?" Charlie asked.

The blue-eyed clotheshorse poked her head out from behind a rack. "Oh, how thoughtless of me. Yes, this is the Canterlot Carousel Boutique, and I'm both the owner and lead designer. Rarity."

Charlie rolled her eyes, amused. She'd already learned Rarity's name from how that spa club had addressed her. "My name's Charlotte, but I prefer to be called Charlie."

After a few moments, Rarity came back with a few outfits, "Let's see how these are, then, shall we?" then directed Charlie into a dressing room and gave her the first outfit.

As she looked at it within the dressing room, however, Charlie realized a problem was present, "Oh no... I can't grab my clothes cause I don't have any hands anymore! What should I do!?" Charlie asked herself in shock as she realized that now she was a pony, she couldn't get dressed like she used to. And even though it seemed like from what Charlie had seen while going around town, most of the ponies in ponyville walked and slept in the nude, covered only by their fur, Charlie had indeed seen some wearing clothes.

But as she looked at her front hooves, there was no way, no how was she capable of grabbing her new clothes.

Having no choice, Charlie bit onto one of her new shirts and threw it into the air and tried to catch it with her body. Needless to say, it didn't work as it got stuck on her head. Then she had to hold the shirt down on the floor and try to slide herself into it head first, but that made the princess of Hell stand and ponies can't stand on their hind legs for long and Charlie couldn't see and thus she fell on her flank.

After wrestling with the first outfit, Charlie gave a tired huff as she _**FINALLY**_ got it on. Not having hands was a pain!

Coming out, Charlie saw that Rarity had been waiting outside the dressing room, most likely to see how the various outfits she picked out looked.

Charlie was now wearing a double-breasted crepe blazer, a two-button blazer that Rarity herself tailored from softly textured stretch crepe and allover princess seams sculpted a flattering silhouette. It was fully lined for exceptional quality, and the blazer featured a notch collar and patch pockets, while it was paired with crepe wide leg pants.

Rairty just loved how it looked on Charlie, but for some reason, she just couldn't see it fit this mysterious alicorn's personality, _'Too much black,'_ Rarity thought to herself, "Next..."

Charlie then turned back into the dressing room to put on another outfit. A bit later, she came back out, only this time, she was now in a three-fourths-length coat. It was soft and supple. Made out of genuine leather for a beautifully relaxed silhouette, a feminine notch collar and split sleeves with button tabs accented the stunning outerwear style. Front slit pockets (sewn closed as on all finely tailored garments). It would look great with anything on her hind legs.

Again Rarity was amazed by her own work, but again... to her this outfit just didn't scream "Charlie!", so with a heavy heart Rarity looked at Charlie, "Not quite..."

Charlie then went back into the room and again came back out, now dressed in a grey longer length blazer. One of Rarity's best-selling, it was a fully lined blazer in the longer length. It had a notch-collar style with two-button closure, had besom pockets, back vent and seaming for great shape.

Like before Rarity was astounded by her own craftsmanship, but again, the suit still didn't match this alicorn at all, "Hating it..."

Charlie was feeling tired from all these rejections, but there had to be at least ONE suit this unicorn would allow her to wear, so she went back into the dressing room to hopefully pick the best out of the outfits this unicorn gave her to wear.

As she turned, something caught Charlie's eye. "Huh? Hello..." Charlie muttered, going over to it. It was a black Zoot Suit with bold, pronounced, red pinstripes and a notched collar; a long, five-button jacket, pleated pants which were lined to the knee. Complimented by a wine-red, wool fedora hat with a snakeskin-band. And Rarity's eyes widened as Charlie even added a ecru-colored ascot scarf to the outfit after a bit of looking it over, along with a white rose carnation in the lapel for a bit of eye-catching flare to the outfit.

"Uh...Rarity?" Charlie wondered, slightly worried when she noticed Rarity's face, before the Unicorn's horn lit up again and the Zoot Suit levitated up and suddenly whipped around her in a flurry of fabric, catching Charlie by surprise.

"Wha...! Hey! Yikes...! Hold on...! Gah!"

When the "storm" ended, Charlie looked at herself in a mirror and saw she was wearing the outfit. "...I...Love it."

Seeing Charlie's new outfit, Rarity felt a swell of pride. "I see what you mean about tasteful suits fitting you, dear. It actually looks rather dashing and beautiful on you. Will need a bit of tailoring on account of your wings, of course, but it fits you grandly."

"Thank you, very much." Charlie smiled, only for her smile to fall into a look of distress as she saw the price tag still attached to her new suit.

"Now don't you worry about paying me anything, darling, This was an emergency, so it's on the house." Rarity said with a smile.

"Oh...Thank you so much! Rarity, I promise someway, somehow I'll find a way to repay your generous gift! Uh... Also, where can I find who runs Poneyville?" Charlie asked, "Need to ask about a living situation."

"Of course, my dear. The tower in the center of town is the town hall. Miss Mayor Mane is usually there." Rarity supplied.

"My thanks." Charlie stepped out of the boutique. After a quick look around to see where it was, Charlie walked to the tower-like building and she saw multiple ponies surrounding a single mare. She had moderate phthalo blue colored eyes with a pare of gold, half-rim glasses on, she also had a light cornflower bluish gray with a lighter streak in her mane, and her coat was a pale, light grayish amber color.

On her flank was another marking though Charlie saw it looked like a single scroll wrapped with a blue ribbon around it. What were those marks on their flanks for anyways?

"Uhmm...Excuse me, are by any chance the mayor of this town? I want to find a job and possibly a house." Charlie asked politely once the other ponies had left the one they had been around.

"Well yes, I'm Mayor Mare, and on behalf of Ponyville I personally wish to welcome you. Would care for a personal tour of our humble town?" The mare asked.

"Oh, yes, please! I'm looking forward to seeing your adorable little town and hopefully becoming a part of it!" Charlie replied eagerly as she followed the mayor.

"New in Poneyville?"

"I am. Name's Charlie. As for everything that's happened to me so far, it's a long story actually, and I'm better at expressing myself through song, and with you being so busy, I don't want to take up your time. But been looking around on my own and I find myself happy here and wish to join the community." Charlie admitted nervously.

"Oh, don't worry about that...impromptu musical numbers happen around here all the time. Practically daily." Mayor Mare smiled, then laughed as Charlie stopped and gawked at hearing that, absolutely speechless.

Had...had Charlie heard that right just now?! This world loved to sing! And impromptu musical numbers were practically a daily event here?! Given Charlie's own completely spontaneous song, "Inside of Every Demon is a Rainbow", while pitching her idea for the Happy Hotel on 666 News back in Hell; and how, as she had confessed, she was better at expressing herself and her goals through song...she was stunned!

Seeing how Charlie had her mouth hanging wide open and her eye widened in surprise, the mayor giggled to herself from seeing Charlie's face as she walked up to the unusual mare and handed her the key to her new home and she then placed her hoof under her chin and closed the mare's mouth close with another giggle as she figured Charlie must really love to sing and that was a big surprise for her to hear.

"This way, please. If you've been going around Ponyville already, then let's settle your issue with needing somewhere to stay." Mayor Mare said.

Shaking her head a little, Charlie then followed as the mayor lead her to a very simple looking place. Medium sized home that had slate grey roof thatching, the building looked like it was made with red brick and ebony wood as the foundation, four windows around the building.

"Here you are, Somepony needed to buy this house anyway. Now...payments will be three hundred bits a month, full price is Eighty-One Thousand. After you manage to pay off everything, the house will be yours in full." Mayor Mare said. "Payments start the end of this month. Agreed?"

"Agreed!" Charlie beamed, mentally figuring that from the way they were mentioned, bits had to be the currency around here. After the mayor gave her the key and went of to continue her duties, Charlie smiled. Still, the day had started to catch up to her and her stomach growled. The devil-turned-pony groaned, wondering where she could get something to eat. As she walked around town, looking for a place to have lunch, she stopped, eyes widening.

That smell...! Oh, no way! They had them here?! Rushing off in the direction the scent was coming from, following her nose, Charlie skid to a stop, mouth gaping and her eyes huge at what she beheld.

There were dozens! Hundreds! Millions! Trillions, even! And of nearly every variety possible!

Apples!

Countless, perfectly ripe apples!

But...so many...! This was almost as many apples as her family had! This...it wasn't a grove or orchard...it was a sea! A sea of apple trees! It blew Charlie's mind!

How did...? who could...? There were no words!

Her stomach roared so loud in her ears that her teeth rattled, snapping her out of her shock.

"Whoo whee...! That there was loud!" A new voice said, catching Charlie's attention, causing her to see an orange mare in a cowboy hat with green eyes and a blond mane and tail. This one's flank showing a trio of Red Delicious apples in a triangle.

"Sorry, hungry...just...never seen an apple grove this size in such flawless condition. Couldn't help but be impressed to the point of sheer awe. Made me forget for a second." Charlie apologized, looking sheepish.

The orange mare beamed at that, "Well, shoot! Mighty fine of you to say, stranger! This here is Sweet Apple Acres, property of the Apple Family! Name's Applejack!"

Charlie blinked, then after a second, broke out laughing, couldn't help it.

Applejack frowned as the new mare laughed, "What's so funny?"

"Sorry, sorry...you have an apple motif as a family theme, too?" Charlie said, stifling her laughter, but couldn't loose the smile.

Applejack blinked, looking interested, "Come again? 'An apple motif as a family theme, too', you say?"

"Long story, but yeah..." Charlie looked at the apple farm, amused, "Same here. Dad's insistent on it. Trust me. I practically have apple cider in place of blood, it's that much a thing with my family. Charlie Magne, by the way."

Applejack laughed, putting a forelimb around Charlie's neck, "Oh, you'll fit right in!" the western mare smiled, "now, unless I miss my guess, that was you just now. Hungry, huh? Then let's get to grubbing, Ms. Magne!"

"Gladly, look forward to the taste of home." Charlie smiled as Applejack lead her through the trees.

"Glad to hear, bet you'll come to find some apple-based recipes you like here." Applejack smiled.

"Heh...no offense, but if you've found a meal with apples I haven't had before, that'll be the day. Be surprised what you can actually do with an apple; trust me, just wait until you meet my father and try topping him on that. Nothing short of biblical what he can do with uses for apples."

Applejack laughed. "Wouldn't mind meeting him then! She said, causing Charlie to freeze. "But come on, we're getting ready for a family reunion on the Summer Sun Festival that's coming up, got a few of our relatives here already. Come on."

Arriving at a barn, Applejack introduced Charlie to her relatives, by the time she was done, it was time to eat and they invited her to join them.

Charlie smiled and nodded, but as soon as the food was set before her, her hunger took over. All of the Apple family members watched in shock and morbid amazement as the Princess of Hell turned pony all but pounced on and devoured many of the apple themed dishes and snacks.

"Well, sauce my apples... She's really does love apples. Not even an entire legion of vampire fruit bats got nothing on her taste for ém..." Applejack said as she watched her new friend devour the food.

"Well... I never thought I'd live to see a pony who can eat sixty-five apple dishes in a row and still keep eatin...", Granny Smith said in amazement.

"Eeyup..." Big Mac simply said.

* * *

"...And here I wanted to _avoid_ gluttony..." Charlie groaned, forelimbs on her noticeable potbelly as Applejack and her brother, Big Macintosh, carried her in their apple cart to her new residence. She'd eaten, according to the Apple Family, what amounted to an entire quarter's worth of their orchard's apples in food on her own before she'd gotten her fill of the apple dishes and cider.

Applejack laughed, "Oh...don't you worry, Charlie. If anythin', you proved you ain't no fibber! An' anypony with as much of a taste for apples as you is more than welcome with us! Whoo! Charlie Cider-blood! Haha! Sure as sugar proved it!"

"Eeyup." Big Mac nodded.

"Told you, grew up with them as a crucial part of my family and it's history. But sheesh...do you guys know apples. The quality was top notch, I could taste the pride you have in your crop in every bite..." Charlie groaned, feeling her stomach churn as it attempted to digest everything properly.

Applejack and her brother smiled, "Mighty kind of you to say, Charlie. And we do, from seed to harvest time, proud of our crop. You take your time and do things the right way, the quality and integrity of your work'll speak for itself. And about you, your family, and apples; I'm sayin' I believe ya! Sheesh! Even we Apples were outdone with how much you loved our grub! Who knows, might be related!"

Charlie tensed at that. "...Uh...doubt it." she said, a bit nervously. "But just to warn you, my dad will want to get his hands on your orchard if he ever got to partake of your fruit, and I mean every last Apple Family farm. Can be a real cut-throat apple tycoon that way, and the better the apples are, the worse he wants them for his own."

The Earth pony brother and sister froze, sharing a look that was on the boarder of shock and outright terror. Take their family farms?! But the Apple Family had branches over all of Equestria!

"My lips are sealed, don't even know if I could get a message about your produce to him, anyways. But he's a deal-maker among other things, so I wanted to warn you since, for as much as I love apples, got nothing on my dad in that regard." Charlie said as the two looked back at her.

Applejack and Big Mac gulped. "Much obliged for the warning, Charlie. And you were who told me he was who insisted on an apple motif as a family theme of yours." the former said, tipping her hat to the Alicorn. As much as it pleased them to have the Apple Family recognized by such utter connoisseurs of the fruit they drew their surname from if Charlie was indeed any indication of what the Magne family were like, the idea of someone robbing the Apples of their land and crop was terrifying!

Their fruit crop was pretty much the very soul of the Apple Family!

"Sorry...just needed to warn you." Charlie winced.

"...Again, much obliged, Charlie. Needed that kinda warning." Applejack said, shuddering. "So, Charlie, what part of Equestria are ya'll from? Cause I hope ya'll don't take this the wrong way or anything like it, but I sure as sugar ain't never seen a pony like you before.", she asked the princess of Hell turned pony.

"Eeyup." Big Mac said agreeing with his sister.

Even though the shift in topic was more than likely done to take the conversation away from the idea of someone stripping their lands and livelihoods from them, which was understandable, Charlie still flinched. She still hadn't thought of a good cover story, there was no way she was ever going to outright say, "Oh, I'm really not from Equestria at all, I'm actually a princess from Hell, the place were the wicked or just vice- go to suffer for all eternity, but we can still be friends though, right?"

If she did that, then two things could happen: one, they would think she was a lunatic and have the ponies send her to the insane asylum if they even have one. Or, two, they would try to run her out of town, or even Equestria all together just to get rid of her.

However Big Macintosh seemed to notice Charlie's flinching at Applejack's question, but thought of Applejack must have said something wrong. He nudged his sister's side to make her stop asking her question, then gestured his head for her to see Charlie thinking,

"Oh...I'm plum sorry Charlie, I didn't mean to say something personal to ya..."

"I understand. Just...well...my family, where I'm from...my time before coming here is...hard to talk about." Charlie explained, then noticed where they were, "Stop here, please. Thanks for the hospitality, welcome, meal, and ride back." she said, getting out of the cart.

After bidding the Apple siblings goodbye and a bit of trial and error with grasping the key with her teeth and getting the door open, Charlie sighed, glad today was over. Had its ups and downs, but would feel good to rest.

Her new home here in ponyville had a single room with a door that lead to the bathroom and another one to a small kitchen. The walls and rooms were bare, save a mattress in one room. Wasn't much in there, but that was just a matter of "yet", and thankfully,this place had running pluming. At most, it was a just a place to sleep, bathe, and bathroom at present. But that would do for her.

Crawling into bed, she grabbed the sheets with her teeth and pulled them over her as she laid down and put her head on the pillow.

"...Maybe this won't be so bad after all...could learn to like this Ponyville place..." the Princess of Hell yawned. "...First thing tomorrow...find a job...early start on my rent...buy food, too..."

Eyelids heavy, the Alicorn surrendered herself to the dream realm.


	3. Chapter 3

**AUTHOR NOTE: Seeing as musical numbers happen in both Hazbin Hotel and Friendship Is Magic, decided to include song lyrics in the story.**

*** The "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" used in this chapter is a medley of the songs "Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful World", and was sung by the late Israel Kaʻanoʻi Kamakawiwoʻole, also called Bruddah Iz or IZ,**.

* * *

"...No...no, please!...stop it! Don't! I'm begging you...! Please, leave them alone...! **NO...!"** Charlie jerked awake with that final cry of denial, drenched in an icy cold sweat and eyes huge as they frantically darted around everywhere. Gasping for breath, Charlie took a moment to compose herself and remember where she was."...Another one..." the Alicorn panted, her body shaking.

Couldn't the looming threat of the yearly Extermination purges to cull the overpopulation of Hell stop haunting her every waking and resting moment? So many souls...so many lives...so many people...

_Her_ people.

Gone. Just gone. Right down to snuffing the souls out. She couldn't stand it. But what could she do, especially with her being stuck here? That thought alone was utter torture. Bad enough her idea of a rehabilitation project with the Happy Hotel had made her a laughingstock all across Hell, but now she couldn't even be there to try helping them before the next Cleanse happened!

"...What am I going to do...?" she asked as she curled inward as small as possible, tears on her face mingling with the sweat. As usual, when she woke from those terrors.

"...Somewhere over the rainbow way up high...There's a land that I heard of...once in a lullaby. Somewhere over the rainbow...skies are blue.  
And the dreams that you dare to dream...really do come true..." Charlie said, starting to sing to herself to help her calm down.

"...Someday I'll wish upon a star...And wake up where the clouds are far  
Behind me  
Where trouble melts like lemon drops  
High above the chimney top  
That's where you'll find me

Somewhere over the rainbow  
Bluebirds fly  
And the dream that you dare to,  
Oh why, oh why can't I?

Well I see trees of green and red roses too,  
I'll watch them bloom for me and you  
And I think to myself  
What a wonderful world

Well I see skies of blue  
And I see clouds of white  
And the brightness of day  
I like the dark  
And I think to myself  
What a wonderful world

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky  
Are also on the faces of people passing by  
I see friends shaking hands  
Singing, "How do you do?"  
They really sing, "I...I love you"

I hear babies cry and I watch them grow  
They'll learn much more than we'll know  
And I think to myself  
What a wonderful world world

Someday I'll wish upon a star  
Wake up where the clouds are far  
Behind me  
Where trouble melts like lemon drops  
High above the chimney top  
That's where you'll find me

Oh, somewhere over the rainbow  
Way up high  
And the dream that you dare to

Why, oh why can't I? I?"

By the time she finished, her trembling had at least stopped. The pain and fear that had plagued her slumber had dulled somewhat. Singing a positive, happy little song like that was something her mother had always done to help sooth her when she had been younger. It was part of why Charlie loved to sing so much...help push the bad stuff away, at least a bit.

Raising a forelimb, she wiped at her eyes and took a deep breath. There was still time. Year wasn't over yet. She could still find a way to get home and find a way to try and keep that horror from happening again.

"...Just need to stay positive until then. Still have time..." Charlie said in reminder. One more deep breath, then the princess of hell sighed and got out of her bed. She had things to do if she was going to stay here until she found a way back, after all. Glad to need to focus on that, she got out of bed and went into into the bathroom. Charlie went up to the vanity and looked at herself in the mirror. She wondered how Rarity had done all that levitation stuff (lifting and yanking Charlie herself around included) the other day. Recalling how the horn of the style queen had glowed when it happened, Charlie's gaze went up to the duo of dark-reddish horns protruding from her head, wondering if she could learn to do it too.

Until then, however...

"...I hate not having hands..." she sighed, then stood up on her hind legs, using the vanity as support, she leaned against it and took her toothbrush, grasping it as best she could between her front hooves. It was like trying to grip things with her fists closed, but she managed after a few tries. Ok...now, where was the toothpaste?

Lowering her head, she hooked the on the two keratin protrusions on the bottom edge of the mirror and pulled her head back, opening it. Seeing what she was after, she carefully stuck her head in and grasped the tube with her teeth and removed it.

Sighing with the tube still grasped within her teeth after realizing she still had yet another problem, Charlie knew she had to be very careful when applying her toothpaste, setting her toothbrush on the edge of her sink, she carefully while using her teeth to unscrew the cap.

Then she lightly bit on the end of the tube and slowly and carefully squeezed the toothpaste with her teeth on the top of her toothbrush.

After several attempt to hold the brush with her hooves, Charlie just about to loose her patience, so she just chomped the toothbrush and began to move it around her mouth with her tongue, making sure to give every tooth a proper scrubbing. It wasn't easy , but she wasn't going to shirk her personal hygiene. Doing so would just be plane gross.

After a while, she spat the toothbrush out, "Ugh... There has got to be a better way to do this..." Charlie groaned to herself as she pulled a plastic bag over her injured wing then turned the knob and jumped into the tub to take her morning bath, thankful the faucet had lever knobs as opposed to round ones. Made using them much easier to work with using hooves.

Dealing with the soap and conditioner, however, was as much of a hassle as using a toothbrush. She kept slipping as she tried having to balance on her hind legs only, and trying to scrub her hair...mane...whichever, using hooves was no simple task either. Still, she found a way to manage.

"I gotta get used to this pony thing..." Charlie groaned, turning the water off and exiting her shower. Drying off, she left the bathroom and sighed, glad that ordeal was over.

She would have gotten breakfast, but she needed to be able to buy some food, first. Which brought her to her main issue at the moment, "Now...where to find some work?" she asked herself. Exiting her cottage, she blinked at seeing a package on her doorstep with a note attached to it.

Hm? Pulling it inside by clamping onto it with her teeth, she looked at the note and began reading.

" 'Dear Charlie. I hope you don't mind this being delivered by package, but I had a lot to do and as much as I wished it, I could not come myself. I do hope you enjoy.

—Rarity'"

Blinking, Charlie used her horns like a box cutter and pulled the flaps back with her teeth and she stared.

Not only was it the Zoot Suit from the other day, but the others she'd tried on as well.

"...Ok, regardless of these being gifts for how things were yesterday, I'm finding a way to pay you back when I can find a way that I can, Rarity." Charlie said to herself, resolved to the action.

The small act of generosity and kindness perking her up and putting her in good spirits, the displaced royal of Hell smiled as she went outside. As she did, Charlie stopped a moment and took a deep breath, simply enjoying the warm sunshine and the sheer brightness of the world she found herself in. Finally, she looked up and once again beheld that beautiful, clear blue sky.

Beaming, Charlie felt herself relax. The brightness, the colors, the warmth, the softness, the sounds...it was all so wonderful! She was going to like it here! Even the smallest, everyday things in this place made her worries seem to melt away. It was a counterbalance she needed, given her concerns about the time limit she was on as far as finding a way home...

At the direction her thoughts were going, she shook her head. Had other things that demanded her focus.

"Gotta find some work." she reminded herself.

As Charlie walked around the town, trying to find where these ponies had job applications, she stopped at a statue in the center of town that she noticed was of a winged unicorn, Charlie frowned at it, puzzled. Wait...was it an "Alicorn"? Like her? Zecora had said she'd seen others, and if they were ponies with both wings and horns, Charlie could see why her current body would have her classified as one among these ponies.

As she studied it, she suddenly heard somepony shout to her, "Look out!"

The next thing Charlie knew, she was tackled by a grey blur who just saved her from getting hit on the head by a package that looked and sounded like it was filled with (now broken) glass as it hit the ground.

"Are you alright? I'm so sorry! I just don't know what went wrong." the pony said.

The pony was a female pegasus with eyes colored gradient from pale, light grayish apple green to moderate gamboge, her mane and tail were pale, light grayish apple green and her coat was light sapphire bluish gray on her flank was a mark in the form of seven bubbles on her flank. She was wearing a brown mail carrier suit, with white sleeves and a collar, on her back was a small saddle bag with the symbol of the post office, and sitting on top of her head was a brown colored hat with a yellow circle with a white circle with a picture of a red arrow with white wings.

However, Charlie looked at the pegasus' eyes and saw that they were wall eyed giving her a unique look compared to the other ponies.

"Thanks for helping me. Would have been bad if that hit me, ummm..." Charlie said, realizing she didn't know the pony's name.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't tell you my name. I'm Derpy Hooves, but you can call me Muffins or Ditzy Doo." the pony said with a smile on her face.

"Ditzy? You hardly seem ditzy to me, Derpy. If you were, you wouldn't have been able to save me from needing to get glass pulled out of my head." Charlie said, "Thanks for that again."

Derpy's eyes widened when she heard Charlie say that, nopony was so nice to her like that before or even thanked her! Most saw her as a clutz at best, a nusance at worst! Her eyes started to water, "That... That's the nicest thing anypony has ever said to me!" Derpy suddenly started to cry tears of joy as she just couldn't help but feel happy.

Charlie stared, nobody was that nice to her before? That was horrible! But why? It was  
obvious Derpy was a nice individual...Without needing to think about it, she hugged the  
bubble marked pony, offering comfort to the one who helped her.

Derpy returned the hug as she was calming herself down and when she was fully calmed down, Derpy then looked at Charlie, "I'm sorry, But I still don't know your..." Derpy said before she saw Charlie's horns and wings, making her gasp and quickly bowed before Charlie as she apologized for touching a royal Alicorn, and she also begged Charlie not to throw her into a dungeon.

"Uh...why are you doing that?" Charlie asked, confused. Why was Derpy bowing like that and acting like she did something wrong by simply touching her? All she did was help keep Charlie from getting hurt.

"Yo...You're an Alicorn... I have to show you respect, your majesty." Derpy said timidly while still bowing and her eyes still closed shut, as if even looking at Charlie without her say-so would be considered a sin.

Well, that answered Charlie's question about the statue and the way her body had her classified, at least.

"You kept me from getting hurt, now you're acting like you did something wrong by helping me, though. So what if I'm an Alicorn? I needed help, you helped me. You're not in any trouble for that. Why would you be?" Charlie said. Ok...this was weird. What did being an Alicorn have to do with why the pegasus was acting this way? And "your majesty"? How did Derpy know Charlie was from Hell's royal family?

Derpy cautiously stood up and looked at Charlie, "Well... If you're okay with this... then I am, too. I hope we can become good friends, um... excuse me, your majesty, but if it isn't insolent of me...what was your name?" Derpy asked as she remembered she never got Charlie's name.

"I'm Charlie, Derpy. And I'd like if we could end up being friends." she said, smiling. "But please, no formalities, titles, bowing, or anything like that, ok? I'd much rather you treat me no different than anyone else."

The pegasus' jaw dropped. An alicorn that wanted...? Seemed pretty disrespectful, but...the way she was smiling at her was proof it was all right. Derpy let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

"Say, Derpy...could you help me? I'm looking for a place to work to get some bits." Charlie asked.

"Well...I hear Mr and Mrs Cake at the Sugarcube Corner bakery might need some extra hooves. I go there all the time to get muffins, so I can show you where it is, your m—Charlie." Derpy said, catching herself before she used a formal title again, not wanting to risk upsetting the Alicorn.

Charlie blinked, then smiled, "That sounds like it could be promising. Could you please show me?"

Derpy nodded. She'd wanted to get some fresh muffins, anyways. "Ok. I can do that real quick. Just gotta clean up the dropped package, first." the mailmare said.

"Let me help, least I can do to thank you." Charlie smiled.

Going over to the broken remains, the pair frowned. How to do this while being careful of the shattered pieces?

However, seeing who the package had been addressed to, Derpy paled. No wonder nopony else had wanted to deliver this crystal chandelier!

Spoiled Rich.

Now Derpy would have to tell her the order was ruined! She was doomed!

As Derpy started to internally panic, Charlie perked up and got an idea as she saw a wastebasket that somepony set outside. Going over, she clamped her teeth on it and brought it over by the shattered package. Setting the wastebasket on its side, Charlie nodded as she held it steady. "Try sweeping it up into this." she said.

Seeing so many shards of crystal on the ground, Derpy then suddenly had an idea before she turned around and she shocked Charlie by using her own tail to sweep up the shards of the chandelier into the basket.

Charlie took a moment to fully understand what she was seeing as she never thought that her new tail would work like that. Charlie then looked at her own whip-like, spaded tail and gave it a few experimental sweeps as she attempted imitate what Derpy was doing with her tail.

Once Derpy finished sweeping, she gave Charlie a smile as the latter put the wastebasket back. "Thanks." the pegasus said, then the two went off with the mailmare leading the way to Sugarcube Corner.

Seeing the town's bakery once, Charlie's mouth dropped.

The building's roof was designed to look like the roof of a gingerbread house with swirls of icing about the eaves; pepperment cane pillars stood aside the front door; and the third floor turret spire was built like a pink, frosted cupcake. And there were tables immediately outside of the bakery for use by patrons.

"...My sweet tooth is overjoyed, and the rest of my teeth hurt just looking at this place..." Charlie muttered, causing Derpy to giggle. Not that the clumsy mare could blame the princess.

"Well...hope things work out. I'd like to stay and help more, but on the clock for my job. Goodbye and good luck, Charlie!" Derpy said before flying into the air again.

Charlie smiled. Another name for the list along with Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack...

Taking a deep breath, the daughter of Lucifer smiled, "Ok, let's do this.", then pushed the door open and entered the shop.

At the bell chimed with the opening of the door, she was greeted by the sight of two Earth ponies behind the counter. The first being a tall, but skinny male pony who had moderate pistachio colored eyes, his mane and tail were colored a light brilliant orange, his coat was a light brilliant amber with light brilliant colored orange freckles on his upper muzzle. On his flank was a tattoo of three cut carrot cakes.

The female Earth Pony next to him looked pleasantly plump and had brilliant rose colored eyes, her mane and tail were light crimson color with light grayish crimson strips and her coat was a very light cerulean. And on her flank was a tattoo of just three cupcakes.

A Mr. And a Mrs., both with types of cake on their flanks. Yep, these must be the ones Derpy mentioned.

"Welc...uh...uhh...uhhh...ummmm..." Mr. Cake started to greet, only to trail off, dumbstruck as he saw it was an Alicorn who entered into their shop! Mr. And Mrs. Cake then nearly banged their heads on the counter in their haste to bow to her.

The transformed demon princess stared. Ok...this was getting weird. Why were they bowing like that to her? First Derpy, now these two? What was up? It was starting to make Charlie feel uncomfortable...

"Uh...please, don't bow..." she said, feeling awkward. "No formalities either, please. Just relax and be casual."

At the permission, the pair rose, letting out held breaths at that. Looking as they got up, they saw the princess smiling warmly at them, "Hi. I'm Charlie, nice to meet you." she greeted.

Huh? _Charlie_?! What kind of name was that for a princess?!

"Well...my full name is actually Charlotte Magne, but I prefer Charlie, easier to remember and say, and sounds more casual." she admitted.

"Oh! Umm...Charlie's very...very nice..." Mr. Cake sputtered, sweating bullets at that.

"Please calm down." Charlie winced, "you didn't know. I explained. End of story. No need to panic."

"...Sorry..." the male pony said, feeling his heart rate return to normal.

"You new in town?" Mrs. Cake asked, looking her over and seeing the differentiations in her appearance to Princess Celestia.

Charlie smiled as she nodded, "Uh-huh. Just arrived yesterday, actually."

The trio jumped at a sudden, loud crash as if something had been dropped or knocked over, accompanied by a long gasp before a pink blur shot out of the bakery, nearly too fast to see.

Charlie looked at the bakers, clearly confused. "Huh?" she blinked, "what was that?"

The mare sighed, "...Oh boy...missed a party..." the cupcake marked pony shook her head before looking at Charlie sympathetically, "You might have your hooves full when you get home, dear..." she said, somewhat amused.

"What do you mean by that?" Charlie asked, very confused about what Mrs. Cake just said, who missed a party?

"Pinkie pie...she always throws welcome parties for the new ponies who come to Ponyville from time to time, you must've somehow slipped under her radar yesterday." Mrs. Cakes said.

Charlie's confusion grew at what she was told. While she _**DID**_ find the idea of giving welcoming parties to newcomers absolutely wonderful, it also sounded like a lot of work. Especially for everyone you see just walking into town.

Charlie shook those thoughts out of her head as she recalled why she was here, "Anyways, umm...I heard there might be a job opening here. Pony named Derpy told me about it."

"Ah. Derpy's a bit klutzy, but she always means well and she's one of our regulars." Mrs. Cake nodded.

Hearing that, Charlie nodded with a smile. Well, that made sense on how Derpy knew there was a job opening here, then.

"She was right. Been looking into hiring somepony to be our backup delivery pony." Mr. Cake nodded.

"I'll do it!"

Mr. Cake looked at his latest customer, a bit shocked at the offer, "Really?"

Charlie beamed, "Sure!", not only would it solve her need for work, but it would let her get to go around Ponyville, interact and make friends with who she met on deliveries, and she'd get to deal with sweet treats...

In short, Charlie found it perfect.

The pair looked at her. She'd admitted to being in town a day at most...how could she do a job like this? They liked that she was so eager to work and help them, but she needed to know her way around town. Still...how to phrase that to her? Especially since she was an Alicorn? Who would want to offend a royal? And if they did, how much trouble would they be in? The pair suspected was why no pony was reacting to the new, strange-looking Alicorn. Who wanted to run that risk?

"Oh...my needing to learn who lives where is an issue?" Charlie realized, wincing. Damn...there she went again, acting before thinking. It was just the idea sounded so good to her in her head...

Wincing themselves, the Cakes nodded. Then again...with the Summer Sun Festival coming up, they would need the help and would have their hooves tied too much to find anypony else to do the job on such short notice with how busy they would be...so did they have a choice?

"...I see..." she sighed. Damn! "Gotta fix that first. Sorry..."

"Well...I suppose it's nothing a map couldn't help fixing until you get use to figuring out town on your own. how about a trial period to help with that, at least?" Mrs. Cake said, "If it works out, then we can hire you. Job's eleven bits an hour. Nine hour shifts. Five days a week. By-weekly pay. Sound fair?"

"Cool beans." Charlie nodded, then smiled, "I won't let you down or have you regret this, I promise!"

The Cakes smiled, a little uneasy. They hoped this turned out well...

"In that case, off to get my bearings!" Charlie smiled, then left the bakery, out to make sure to get enough of the place memorized so she could find her way around town on her own without trouble. She _**would**_ get this right!


	4. Chapter 4

**Author Note: Glad so many people like this story idea!**

**GREAT NEWS: If you haven't heard already, thanks to the A24 Entertainment company ****HAZBIN IS GETTING AN OFFICIAL SERIES!**

**If you can, support Vivziepop and her crew**** so we can ALL see more Hazbin Hotel! More content from the official release to work with and it showing more of the way the characters are also helps this story, too!**

* * *

As Charlie was going around town to learn the layout of Ponyville for her (hopefully) job with the Cakes, she stopped as she saw a trio of fillies, the first of which had large brilliant gamboge colored eyes, her mane and tail were a brilliant amaranth, her coat was Pale, light grayish olive and to top it all off, she had a large bow that was a light, brilliant crimson sitting on her head.

The second was a pegasus, however, her wings looked way too small to help her fly, which confused Charlie greatly and concerned her for the filly's health, her eyes were colored grayish purple, her mane and tail were a moderate cerise and her coat was a light brilliant gamboge in color.

And finally the third filly was a unicorn that had pale, light grayish harlequin colored eyes, her mane and tail were colored grayish mulberry with pale, light grayish rose streaks and her coat was a simple light gray.

Spotting a familiar face among the trio, she went over. "Hello!"

"Wah!" The three shouted, all of them jumping as they were jolted from what they had been doing by her greeting.

"Sorry...!" Charlie said, mortified. She hadn't meant to startle them. Then the one with the bow saw who it was and her eyes widened before she relaxed and smiled. "Oh, hello again!" she turned to the other two, "It's all right. This is who I was tellin' ya'll about, the Alicorn from the other day at the family farm."

At that, the other two stared at Charlie with wonder.

"Why do you have bat wings?" The pegasus asked, interested.

"And two horns, and that tail..." the unicorn wondered.

Charlie shrugged as best she could, "Just do. Can't help it. Just different, is all." The Princess of Hell said. Then nodded at the first filly, recognizing her and recalling 'the other day at the at the family farm' she mentioned. "Nice to see you again, little Apple."

"Apple Bloom." she said, though she looked hurt Charlie hadn't remembered her name.

"Sorry...but in my defense, there's seven thousand five hundred varieties of apples that are grown throughout the world; and that's at least with how there are those that try crossbreeding and all that, and your family has a lot of members named after kinds of apples. Then there's how many of your family I met all at once. And all the other possible words that can be put together with the word "apple", so please forgive me if I can't recall off the top of my head exactly which Apple you are after knowing you only for a day." Charlie apologized and explained.

Apple Bloom looked thoughtful for a second, then nodded. "Eh...good points, can't argue them, Cider Blood. Forgiven."

Charlie blinked, "...That nickname for me is gonna stick as far as you and your family goes, isn't it?" she asked dryly.

In reply, Apple Bloom only smiled.

"So what are you three doing?" The Princess of Hell asked, moving on from the nickname topic.

"Oh, these're my friends, Sweetie Belle an' Scootaloo." Apple Bloom said, pointing out the unicorn and pegasus respectively as she introduced them, "Together, we're the Cutie Mark Crusaders. CMCs for short."

"Cutie marks?" Charlie asked, confused.

Wincing, the three presented their flanks to Charlie, allowing her to see the young ponies lacked those tattoos the other ponies she'd seen had.

"The marks on everypony's flank? Called a Cutie Mark. A cutie mark is the representation of a pony's special unique characteristic that sets themselves apart from others. What makes them special."

"You sound just like Miss Cheerilee at school." Sweetie Belle giggled.

"You know it." Apple Bloom nodded, then turned to Charlie, "We were tryin' ta come up with ideas to find out ours." the young pony explained. Though she and her friends were surprised that this pony didn't seem to know what cutie marks were.

Charlie blinked, "Ok, I get that and why they help point you in the right direction with plotting a course for your life, but...why be so obsessed with getting them as soon as possible? I mean..." she turned and let them see her own flank.

Jaws dropped as if they had just turned into a metric ton of steel and concrete at the sight of a BLANK-FLANKED PRINCESS! of all things.

"Yeah..." Charlie said, seeing their expressions, "But you know? I'm ok with it."

The CMCs looked at Charlie, shocked. She didn't care if she got a cutie mark or not?! They were raised to always believe that a cutie mark was what made a pony special. Yet here was a pony—a princess, no less!— not caring if she remained a "blank flank" forever!

Seeing the looks on their faces, Charlie sighed, "Look girls... It's not that I hate cutie marks or that I never want to get one, or anything like that. What I mean is that if I do end up getting one or not, it doesn't really matter to me because I'll still always just be me at the end of the day. I don't need a cutie mark to tell me that."

The three continued to gawk as if what she said just didn't add up before their minds seemed to reset.

"All I mean is, just take your time. Don't be in such a rush to mature and get your cutie marks, girls. If you get them before you're truly ready, you're gonna be wishing to be blank flanks again. Why waste the possibilities you all have laying before you? Learn to enjoy the attempts to find yourselves, ok?" Charlie said.

"So...even if they aren't our special talent, we might find something we still like doing?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Smiling, Charlie nodded, "Right, but how can you know how much you like it if you stop doing it once you find out it isn't related to your cutie mark? See the problem?"

At that, the trio looked thoughtful.

"Ok, I get that. I mean, I love riding my scooter, and it's not related to my cutie mark. If it was, I would have gotten one already." Scootaloo said.

The other two Cutie Mark Crusaders nodded at the winged filly's words.

"So, what are you up to?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Eh, just memorizing around town for a job I'm aiming to get." Charlie confessed.

"Yer lookin' fer a job? Ya coulda' gotten one at Sweet Apple Acres." Apple Bloom said.

Charlie gulped at that, looking nervous, "Err...better not. No offense, Apple Bloom, but with how I could down an entire quarter of your family's apple orchard on my own and how delicious the care your family puts into them makes the fruit there, better I not risk working there. Bad with temptations, and considering how good your family's apples are...Might end up eating the whole crop myself if I was around it that constantly."

Apple Bloom blinked, then nodded with a wince, "...I see yer point."

"...Wow...eat like a pig..." the orange-coated pegasus said.

"Hey!" Apple Bloom glared, "What's wrong with lovin' apples that much?!" she demanded, feeling personally offended. Her family were who grew that fruit and she was raised off those apples, after all!

"...Er...nothing! I just...that didn't come out right..." Scootaloo said nervously.

"All right, break it up, girls. She didn't mean anything by it. Just surprised by hearing someone could do that when they weren't part of the Apple Family." Charlie said, smiling.

Apple Bloom huffed, but let the subject drop. "True...ya did shock us with that, Cider Blood...even we Apples were outdone."

The pegasus let out a relieved sigh. "...Sorry..." she said, aiming the words at both Apple Bloom and Charlie.

"Eh, no biggie." The princess said, glad a potential bit of fighting had been defused. "So...any way I can help you three?"

"Huh? Er...why?" Apple Bloom said, "you said Cutie Marks don't really matter to you."

"True, but while I may not find that getting a cutie mark an all-important end-all-be-all, who says I can't want to help out?" Charlie pointed out brightly.

The fillies blinked, then smiled.

"So...Ok...is there anything you want to do with your lives, or...do you have any role models? Someone you look up to and want to be like?" Charlie asked, figuring those could be good starting points.

"That's easy! My big sis, Applejack!" "My beautiful sister, Rarity!" Both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle instantly shouted out their sisters' names which caught Charlie by surprise, since she already met both Applejack and Rarity, though she noticed Scootaloo hadn't said anything. Instead, she saw the pegasus filly looking up into the sky and Charlie, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle looked up and saw a single Pegasus pony flying very fast, leaving a rainbow trail behind her. Charlie was instantly amazed as she saw the pegasus perform air tricks nonstop as the pegasus must have noticed she had a small audience watching her.

"Wow...pretty good." Charlie praised.

"Good?! No way! She's WAY more than that! Rainbow Dash is the best in all the history of all Equestria!" Scootaloo beamed, "nopony inspires me more than she does!"

Zooming, the pegasus, Rainbow Dash, went down to them and hovered before the four, her forelimbs crossed. She had a bright sky-blue coat and wings, red-violet eyes, while her hair and mane were colored like a rainbow and were slightly spiked, making her appear to be a tomboy to Charlie. Her flank's mark was in the design of a cloud with a rainbow coming out of it like a bolt of lightning.

"Yo." The mare smirked.

"Hello. So...you're the famous Rainbow Dash, I take it?" Charlie smiled. Her words causing Scootaloo to blush with a sheepish smile as Rainbow grew even more self-satisfied at that. "Yep." the flyer confessed, then cringed as she saw the cast Charlie wore covering one wing. "Ouch...how did that happen?"

"Long story...and it stinks..." Charlie admitted, "...Still...could have been worse. Rather than a cast, I could have needed the wing to get amputated."

At the mere mention of a flyer getting one or both of their wings amputated, Rainbow Dash suddenly paled so badly, her fur, mane, wings and tail all suddenly turned pure, stark white and her eyes shrank down to the size of pin pricks as they were suddenly somehow bleached of all color, too. She looked like a coloring book picture before the color was added in.

"...Sorry..." Charlie winced, seeing how scared Rainbow Dash was, "...was just trying to find a bright side..."

Gulping deeply as her color slowly returned, the pegasus nodded "...Yeah...I can see why the cast is better..." she admitted. Amputating wings...! Oh! Rainbow knew right off the bat the sheer idea of that was going to haunt her! She practically LIVED to fly and to have that be removed from her...! Might as well take away her heart and soul!

Charlie nodded. "My bad. Have to say, though; heard you're the best flyer in the history of all Equestria, can tell you're passionate enough about it to have that be the truth. How much do you practice?"

"Hmm...All day, every day; pretty much from sunrise to sunset." Rainbow Dash admitted, "Flying's just what I was made to do. Actually pretty rare to see me not in the air or flapping my wings."

"Makes sense. Surprised your legs are still usable, then, though; if you don't mind my saying so. I mean, sure, you're obviously pretty athletic, but how much do you use the muscles in your legs compared to your wings?" Charlie said.

"Hmm...Ooooh-kaaaay...I'll admit I gotta give you that one." Rainbow nodded. She'd need to work on that, even if she wasn't one for being kept on the ground, a good launch into the air DID require a good, strong set of legs; she'd admit that.

"Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, but I have to go. Maybe you can show me some of your flight maneuvers after the cast is off?"

Rainbow nodded. "Sure."

Once the quartet of blank flanked ponies left and she no longer had to worry about the credibility of her reputation, the still-frightened pegasus flew straight back to her cloud house and locked all the doors and windows, shoved things in front of them to bar them, and ran to her room and hid herself under her covers, shivering in utter terror.

"Am...Am...Am...Amp...Amputated wings...!" Rainbow Dash whimpered.

After leaving the flyer, blissfully unaware of the lingering terror that had accidentally been instilled by their brief conversation, the four blank flanks continued their tour of Ponyville.

"This way. Gotta get used to around town, right?" Apple Bloom said.

Charlie blinked, "Ok. Umm...as much as I appreciate it, why are you three so eager to help me?" As much as it was a delight, it was also utterly baffling to her that these ponies were all so genuinely nice. Then again...she was from a place where just about everyone were completely heartless, soulless, unrepentant creeps. Compared to what she was used to, it was as baffeling as it was an utter delight to have a legit amount of folks be so upbeat and friendly.

She adored it! How warm and welcoming everything and everyone here was warmed her heart to no end! THIS was the kind of thing that was needed back home! She could feel it!

"You wanna help us, only right we help you." Scootaloo said.

"So, where are you aiming to get a job at?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Charlie smiled, "Sugar Cube Corner. Tell you what...if I get the job there, I'll see about you three getting a discount since you helped me get work there. Sound fair?"

Seeing the fillies suddenly eagerly licking their lips was all the answer she needed, it made her laugh. Seemed the notion of sweets was appealing to young kids everywhere, no matter the species. All the more eager to help out at the notion of the treats, the CMC smiled and nodded as they then lead Charlie all around Ponyville, showing her places like the bowling alley, the arcade and the other various shops around the town and all the while, Charlie was making sure to fully memorize the locations. It was noon when Charlie and the CMC finished their tour around Ponyville.

"Thank you all SO much for helping me, girls!" Charlie smiled.

As Charlie was walking with the CMC by what was clearly the town schoolhouse, somepony called to the group making them stop.

"Excuse me! Excuse me! Miss...err..Miss Bat Pony! I believe you have three of my students!"

Running up to the four was a female Earth pony with grayish, harlequin colored eyes while her mane and tail were a pale, light grayish rose with light ceriseish gray stripes; while her coat was a full moderate cerise in color and on her flank were three flowers, each with a smiling face in the center of the flowers.

"Miss Cheerilee." The three fillies said in unison at the sight of her.

Miss Cheerilee? Charlie blinked and put on a smile. So, this was the three's teacher, huh?

However, once she got a good look at who her students were with, the school teacher skid to a stop, eyes huge before she leaned forward in an unmistakable gesture.

"Oh, for the love of—! Do NOT bow!" The Mange family heiress groaned, "Please...just...be casual."

At that, the school teacher got up quickly, looking panicked, "...My ap..."

Leaning most of her weight on her back limbs, Charlie held up a forelimb, cutting Cheerilee off, "Don't. You don't need to be sorry, but what's wrong with casual? Lot less tense and are able to be honest more. I mean, why act like you're walking on eggshells and broken glass? I'm an Alicorn, so what? No need to be so jumpy." Charlie said.

"Uh... Well if you say so prin- I mean..umm..."

"Call me Charlie. Pleased to meet you, Miss Cheerilee."

"Umm...alright, Charlie. Nice...to meet you..." Cheerlie said before taking in some breaths and calming herself down for a moment. Was this new Alicorn not fully aware of her position as a princess or something? Well, the casual attitude approach certainly was going to feel easier. And it wasn't like Cheerlie couldn't understand that this pony would want to be treated the same as everypony else. At least she wasn't in trouble...

"If you were looking for the trio here, my fault." she informed the school teacher, "New to Ponyville and they were kind enough to offer assistance in learning my way around. These three of your students were just helping me out. They're good at that—helping others, I mean."

Miss Cheerilee smiled at that. "That so?" she asked, looking at the fillies, "Well...glad to hear that. Proud of ponies like that being my students."

The Cutie Mark Crusaders all swelled and beamed. It felt good helping out and knowing it was appreciated made it even better.

"Well...come on, girls; you three do still need to get home." Miss Cheerilee said, causing the Crusaders to nod and bid Charlie good-bye.

Smiling at the three, she did likewise and made her way back to the sweets shop.

"Working hard to memorize town, huh?" Mr. Cake said, he and his wife seeing who entered the shop.

Charlie nodded, "With some help from the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but yeah. They know their way around Ponyville, I just got here and I'm learning. Seemed best to get a guide until I memorize everything myself."

The male pony chuckled, seemed this Alicorn really did want that job. He liked her work ethic. Well, he was going to need the help with what was coming up, and this princess was willing and certainly determined to help him and his wife out. Mr. Cake certainly felt thankful to her for it. The Summer Sun Celebration was getting closer with each passing day. It was only ten more days from now...and then there were where the deliveries had to be taken.

Town square and town hall  
Schoolhouse  
Hospital  
Train station  
Ponyville Retirement Village  
Ponyville Tower  
Ponyville Theater  
Sweet Apple Acres  
Sugarcube Corner  
Day Spa  
Golden Oak Library  
Carousel Boutique  
Bookshop  
Bowling alley  
Joke shop  
Café Hay  
Quills and Sofas  
Hay's Hardware  
Mr. Breezy's fan shop  
Jewelry store  
Arcade machines  
Rich's Barnyard Bargains  
The Hay Burger  
Comedy club  
Toy Store  
Tea Shop  
China Shop  
Party Shop  
Antique Shop

There were a LOT of places in Ponyville...And that wasn't even counting memorizing every pony in all of town, and their personal addresses! And Charlie was out to memorize them ALL by the end of the day if she had to. The Cakes would be lying if they denied that they respected her work ethic. Credit for a good impression being on her side, if nothing else.

Fact that she was willing to ask for help wasn't too bad in this situation, either. She was new to town and was willing to admit that. Good on her, a good employee at a new job in an unfamiliar place had to know how to swallow their pride and ask for help, after all.

"Er...Charlie, dear?" Mrs. Cake said, "why not head home for now? It's getting quite late. We can continue with the trial period tomorrow."

Charlie took a look at the sky as it was turning from blue to pink, red, and orange as the sun neared the horizon; the color of the clouds became orange and pinkish, starting to turn to grey. The cloud cover brought different colors to the sky, consisting of blue, white, pink, orange, and purple.

Charlie stared at it, again feeling swept up in her own wonder. Beautiful...Then she shook her head and tore her eyes away from the sight, albeit reluctantly. "Ok. Sorry, Mrs. Cake. Just want to take this seriously."

The other mare smiled, happy to hear that. "Glad you are, dear. It helps."

After bidding the Cakes farewell, she made it to new her ponyville address and went in. As Charlie turned the lights on, party streamers launched into the air and confetti sprinkled everywhere and heard a whole crowd of ponies suddenly appeared out of nowhere shouting, "SURPRISE!" as party music started playing.

"Wow! So this is what Mrs. Cake meant!" Charlie shouted as she was very much indeed surprised as she saw all the party decorations, cakes, treats, sandwiches and drinks along with a LOT of ponies from around town in her place.

Hopping over, a pale pink pony with a raspberry-colored mane and tail that were so poofy, Charlie could almost mistake them for cotton candy greeted her. Joyful, light blue colored eyes beamed at her, and to finish her look off, she also had a flank tattoo of three balloons, two of them were a light blue colored with yellow strings while the one in the middle was a single pale yellow balloon with a light blue string. "Isn't this exciting? Are you excited? Because I'm excited! I've never been so excited! Except for the time that I heard that you arrived yesterday and I never saw you and I was really surprised as I usually know when somepony new arrives into ponyville! By the way, my name's Pinkamena Diane Pie, but my friends call me Pinkie Pie! And now that I've told you my name, that means we're now friends, so now you can call me Pinkie Pie!" the now named Pinkie Pie said as she introduced herself to Charlie.

Charlie looked at Pinkie and she practically saw herself inside this pony. Energetic, bursting with passion, loved to make everyone happy...The princess of Hell smiled as widely as possible as she looked at Pinkie Pie, "This is AMAZING! Oh! And my name's Charlotte, but I prefer to be called Charlie; and yes, I want to be your friend, Pinkie Pie! And as for this party, I love it!" Charlie said as she felt more happy than ever before. She didn't know why she was so happy (nor did she really care, she enjoyed any and all reasons to be happy, after all), something about Pinkie's happy nature must have been contagious as she had never felt so happy before coming to Ponyville.

"Yay!" Pinkie cheered.

The party was, in Charlie's mind, absolutely great! The daughter of Lucifer enjoyed herself mingling with the ponies (though she assured them not to bow or treat her any differently than anypony else, telling them to disregard her being an Alicorn more than once), enjoying the snacks (though the punch was difficult to deal with using hooves—Charlie missed her hands and fingers!), the music and the party games. She adored it all!

Then finally, when the party ended, Charlie enthusiastically told the guests they were all welcome back to her place at any time. After putting the leftovers from the party away and as she was cleaning up (assuring and reassuring Pinkie for three hours it was ok to let her do it alone, seeing as the post-party clean up was technically still something involved in parties, so Pinkie considered it a responsibility as the party planner to handle it), Charlie had just tossed out the last of it when she stopped and ducked out of sight.

Who was that?!

Unaware of her watcher, there stood a tall alicorn with violet colored eyes, a flowing mane and tail that was colored with a light cerulean, light turquoise, very light cobalt blue and pale heliotrope for a somewhat rainbow effect. Her fur was colored pure white and on her flank was a tattoo of what looked like a very bright sun, she also had gold colored horseshoes on all four of her hooves.

"Soon...soon now...finally..." she sighed, her horn glowing with golden light and the sun seemed to go a bit lower in response and it grew darker. As it did, from where she was watching, Charlie heard the other Alicorn start singing. The song was soft, like a lullaby, and full of remorse. When she finished, she turned and walked away, dejected, but took a deep breath and straightened with a fake smile on her face.

Exiting her hiding place, looking up at the sky, Charlie looked at the shape of the horse head silhouette on it.

"...Moon Princess Luna, huh?"


End file.
